


Fire & Ice

by starrytae



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff, Light Angst, M/M, Slow Burn, chenle just needs friends and support, coach!kun, coach!taeyong, figure skating, i'm talking slooooow, jisung just needs a hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-07 14:10:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21459340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrytae/pseuds/starrytae
Summary: Chenle has always skated a little too perfectly, with beauty and intricacy. He glides on the ice as if it were air, elegance in every jump, every landing, and everything in between. He moves with a sense of purpose (when Chenle skates, the world doesn’t blink).And Jisung, well. Jisung skates like his life depends on it, with fire and passion burning his eyes, leaving flames behind him at every burst of raw power. He moves with a sense of desperation (when Jisung skates, the world doesn’t breathe).or, the figure skating au nobody asked for.
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee, Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 23
Kudos: 87





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've been playing wih this idea for a few days and thought why not bring it to life. i've tried to do my best research into figure skating, but i'm sorry if some things are wrong. this is a figure skating au featuring all the members of nct and wayv (in varying degrees), but it's going to focus heavily on jisung and chenle. enjoy!!!

**July 2028**

"I thought I'd find you here". Jisung sighs in frustration, slowing to a stop after his last triple flip (which had been a little shaky) and turning towards the voice. Standing at the edge of the rink is Jaemin, brown hair tousled, hands in pockets, and signature 'I do not approve' frown adorning his features.

“Congrats, you found me,” Jisung says, smiling sarcastically as he skates over to where Jaemin is. “What are you doing here?”

“I can ask you the same question. You _ know _Taeyong would beat your ass if he knew you were here at ass o’clock in the morning, alone, working on your jumps.”

“What time is it anyway?” Jisung asks half out of genuine curiosity, half to distract Jaemin from his own question.

“You’re deflecting, stop that. What are you doing here so late, alone no less?” Jaemin crosses his arms over his chest and although he usually comes across as playful and mild-mannered, something about the dim overhead lights makes him seem more intimidating than Jisung would usually allow himself to think. 

“Relax, I wasn’t working on any quads. I just… needed to think.” He shrugs, putting on his skate guards and walking over to the bench, sitting down and slowly unlacing his skates. Jaemin starts “tsk”-ing away, shaking his head. 

“You know, most normal people go on walks when they need to think. They get fresh air and get reacquainted with nature and all that good shit. They don’t come to freeze their ass off in a dark and stuffy rink.”

“And you know as well as I do that nobody who skates is normal,” Jisung says with a scoff, slipping on his sneakers. He really should stretch his legs out, roll his ankles out a bit, but now that Jaemin interrupted his midnight practice session the tiredness is crashing into him in waves, seeping into his bones. 

“Deflecting, again, Sungie.” Jaemin uses his sing-song voice and Jisung looks up, seeing a smirk on Jaemin’s face as he leans against the boards. Jisung sighs, folding his head over and running his hands through his hair as his eyes shut. There’s a slight throbbing behind his temple. 

“I’m just… nervous, I guess. I was gone for 2 years with absolutely no notice, you know? That’s not exactly normal in our sport.” He opens his eyes but keeps them focused on his sneakers, following the stitching along the sides, trying not to look as anxious and stressed as he feels. “Most people probably think I retired.” 

He feels more than sees Jaemin sit beside him, a hand coming down to soothingly pat his shoulder. He’s expecting some more nagging, a bit more teasing, but he’s surprised when Jaemin’s voice, notably more softer, says, “like you said, nothing about the sport is normal. How about we blow this icicle joint and get some ramen? Nothing like convenience store ramen at ass o’clock at night to soothe the soul, huh?”

In that moment, Jisung feels relieved. Jaemin can be a pain in the ass with all his teasing and nagging, but he reads Jisung like a book most times and the last thing Jisung needed tonight was more questions, more poking and prodding for answers even Jisung didn’t know yet. He finally pulls his head out of his hands, glancing over at his fellow skater. “Only if you’re paying.” He tries to smile as he meets the others’ eyes, and Jaemin smiles slightly before standing up, shoving his hands back in his pockets. 

“Aish, I try to do something out of the kindness of my heart and I get taken advantage of instead. See if I ever come around to save your ass again, you better invest in some Life Alert in case you eat it out there one night.” Jisung smiles, looking back at the ice one more time before following Jaemin out of the rink, skates in hand, the lights shutting off behind them. 

* * *

"You just don't ever quit, do you?"

Chenle skids to a stop, looking towards the entrance gate to the rink to see his coach, Kun, leaning over the edge of the boards with Renjun by his side. It was Renjun who had spoken, a glint of mirth in his eyes as he looked at his junior, his protégé, his mini me. 

Chenle just laughed, loud and freely in the privacy of the rink. "I gotta catch up to you, don't I?" He asks teasingly, doing small figure eights on the rink with his hands up, effortlessly switching between the inner and outer edges of his blades.

"False. You have to do better than me, so technically you have to catch up and then go further. So really, you're not working hard enough," Renjun teases back. 

Chenle halts all movement, about to retort when a new voice breaks the atmosphere. 

"Renjun, you're back!" Chenle looks over to see Xiaojun making his way from the locker rooms, a smile on his face at their senior showing up unexpectedly. He bounced towards the older boy, his blonde hair flopping on top of his head as he threw his arm around the senior.

"Yeah, I figured I'd drop in and grace you with my presence, see how my favorite figure skaters in the business are doing. Kun keeping you in tip top shape?" Renjun peers at the coach, and Kun scoffs at his words, poking his thumb towards where Chenle stood on the ice.

"Chenle keeps himself in tiptop shape. He's a well oiled machine, I'm just a glorified supervisor." He glances towards Xiaojun, a lilted smirk pulling at his lips. "Xiaojun, well, he needs all the help he can get."

Said skater looks up, his features twisting into a mildly offended look. "Sorry not all of us were gifted straight out of the womb like Zhong over there." It's all in good fun though, and Chenle watches on familiarly as the 3 of them bicker and banter like a family. Which they were, kind of. Kun, Renjun, Xiaojun. They're the only ones in this industry he trusts. They mean more to him than they probably even know. He just looks on with a fond smile stretching over his features.

"Alright, alright. Let's focus on what really matters. Chenle, have you worked on your new short program yet? I want to see how it's coming along," Renjun says. "Have you added the triple flip toe loop combo?"

"I have. I've also been working on my flexibility, I was thinking of changing the camel spin to a Biellmann." To prove his point, he reaches down towards the ice, stretching his leg muscles and testing their flexibiltiy. A bit stiff, but nothing some stretching wouldn't fix. 

"The Biellmann? Damn, you really want that gold." Xiaojun's eyebrows shoot up in surprise as Chenle stands up again. He just shrugs, reaching a hand up to fluff his hair out. 

"Gotta pull out all the stops, right?"

"The Olympics aren't till next February, in case you've forgotten," Kun teases, yet there's a proud smile on his face. "There's still 18 months, no need to show off so much so soon. Let's stick to the camel spin for now, we'll shoot for the sit spin to Biellmann next season." 

Chenle gives a mock salute to his coach, his teeth poking out in a small smile. "Whatever you say, captain."

"Alright then, show us what you got, ice prince." Renjun calls from the side. Chenle groans at the inescapable nickname that seems to follow him everywhere, but nonetheless he skates to the center of the rink, arms raised and poised in his starting position. He takes a deep breath, feeling his heartbeat thrum in his chest, the world around him going mute as he waits for the first note of the song to play.

He lives and breathes skating. From the time he was only 4 years old, his whole life has revolved around skating. He might as well have the nickname so befitting to him. 


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! here's chapter 1 as promised. I'm gonna try to upload a chapter every weekend and there should be 15 chapters total. 
> 
> also I did some research and am trying to keep the figure skating aspects as real as possible but I'm a baby to the figure skating world so I'm sorry for wrong details/info (p.s. i totally made up the ISU Season Gala)
> 
> [chenle's short program ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_P65WNm48p0)
> 
> [jisung's free skate](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPmwt_0FHBw) (or at least something like this kingdom hearts instrumental medley)

**September 4**

“Are you nervous for the Grand Prix?” Xiaojun asks as he sits between Lucas and Hendery, bumping his shoulder into either side of them, going back and forth like a metronome.

“Our Chenle has nothing to be nervous for,” Hendery says, smiling up at his friend as he unlaces his hockey skates. Lucas nods in agreement, his shoulder pads making him look a bit like a bobble-head more than a human.

“I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know a damn thing about figure skating, but I _ do _know that Chenle is the best there is!” Chenle feels the corners of his lips quirk up at his friends acting as his hype men, but he can’t help but feel a bit on edge. He knows he’s going into the Grand Prix with high scores and a good previous season under his belt, but that just means there’s high expectations for him. It’s a blessing and a curse, really.

“You’re all right, they don’t call him a prince for nothing. But, the last thing he needs is you puckheads feeding his ego,” Kun jokes, eyeing the two hockey players carefully. “If I learned anything from skating it’s that you can never get too comfortable. You should always be pushing yourself, improving yourself, trying to reach higher and higher.” His coach gets this light in his eye and Chenle can’t help but feel a bit sympathetic for him. He knows Kun misses his glory days on the rink rather than on the sidelines. He knows one day there’ll come a time where he retires from the rink as well, and he’d rather not dwell on it. The ice has been there for Chenle for so long that he doesn’t really know what he’s supposed to do without it. But that’s then, and this is now, and _now_ all he needs to be concerned about is perfecting his routines for Skate Canada.

“As I always say coach, excellence doesn’t come without extremes.” Chenle parrots his personal motto as he leans against the boards, his skates moving forwards and backwards like treading water. “So how _ is _my competition looking?” 

“Well, a good friend of mine said that a junior who used to skate at his training complex in Korea is coming back into the skating scene. From what I hear, the kid is no joke. He was the Junior Grand Prix Champion the year after you, 2025 I think.”

“What’s his name?” Chenle is thankful that the question slips from Xiaojun. He was curious as well, but he’d rather zamboni the rink himself than admit he was wary of some no-name newcomer. The defending 4Cs champion should have a little more confidence than that. 

“Park Jisung, if I remember correctly.” The name sounds familiar but nothing significant is popping up, no faces or memories. 

Chenle merely shrugs. “Doesn’t ring a bell. He can’t be that good, then.”

“Don’t forget about Jaemin and Mark, too. Especially Jaemin though.” Renjun has been quietly standing beside Kun, but he speaks up finally, making eye contact with Chenle.

“Who’s Jaemin?” Lucas asks, lost in the conversation. 

“Jaemin won gold in the Olympics in 2026.” Chenle says, trying to hint at what that means without actually saying it. Renjun had gotten silver at the 2026 Olympics in Italy, coming in a close second behind the Korean skater. Chenle thinks Renjun wouldn’t have been so bitter about it if he hadn’t _ already _lost the Olympics once before. Renjun had also come in second in the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Mark Lee from Canada had beat him for the gold by a much larger margin than Jaemin, though, so Renjun had a tendency to view Jaemin as a rival of sorts. Or, as he likes to call Jaemin himself, ‘his nemesis’. 

Jaemin seemed to be slowing down lately though, if his performance at the ISU Season Ending Gala a few months prior had been any indication. Chenle takes it upon himself to voice this thought. Renjun just shakes his head.

“Like Kun said, never get too comfortable,” Renjun says, shaking his head. “Jaemin is crazy. He has off days like everyone else, but he gets these crazy spurts of energy where he’s practically unstoppable.” Chenle nods to himself, running the thought over in his mind. He, himself, prefers constant and consistent over bursts of brilliance but to each their own.

“Let’s get to work then. Chenle, you ready to do a full run of ‘Moonlight on the Lake’? I know we just added fresh material, but—”

“I’ve been ready, coach. I'm already warmed up and everything, I practiced all my jumps while the puckheads were cleaning up.” Chenle skates towards his starting position in the rink, excitement buzzing through his veins at the prospect of running through the innovated program fully for the first time. He’d added a quad loop in the beginning half instead of the quad salchow he had been throwing.

“Let’s get it!” He hears his friends cheering from the bench, Lucas’ loud voice ringing out as Hendery stands up and claps his hands together. He lets a small smile grace his features before he closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and zeroes in. 

It’s like this every time he steps on the ice. The outside world fades away and it feels like it’s just him, alone, the only breathing, living thing in the universe. It’s like there’s a thread stemming from his heart that splits into two, each end weaving down his legs, through his feet and onto the ice. He feels connected to it, in a strange way. It almost feels surreal. He’s always had that ability though, to _ feel _the ice; to feel like one with the ice. He couldn’t put it into words, not really. He just knew he was meant to do this, deep in his bones. Every jump he does feels like flying, and landing feels less like falling and more like gravity is rooting him down where he's supposed to be.

He hears the beginning sounds of the Tchaikovsky piece—the strings opening in minor key—and his head snaps up, his body moving on muscle memory. 

He practices his expressions as he skates in wide circles around the rink, making sure to elongate his limbs and make his body look like art personified. Each movement is timed precisely with the music, each push of his skate purposeful and graceful. 

With the first crescendo of the music, he goes to throw his quad loop. He prepares for the jump, feet coming together, his body propelling into the air. For a second, it feels an awful lot like he’s flying. His arms wrap tight around his body to help speed up his rotations, and before he knows it he’s landing on his right foot, his hands out by his sides. He doesn’t need to look to his coach or his friends to know how beautiful that jump was, how clean that landing was. He felt it from the start, before his feet even left the ice. He feels his lips stretch into a grin as he continues his program.

He’s about two-thirds of the way through his program, at the climax of it all, when he feels something wrong. It’s an instinct in his gut, a siren blaring in his head that matches the minor key of the composition that's playing through the speakers. He’s supposed to throw his triple axel, but as he turns for the jump, he can’t help but stall altogether. His right leg comes back down, both feet on the ice and slowing down and he finds himself skating towards the boards instead.

The music keeps playing in the back, the timing missed, but something’s _ not right. _

“Chenle?” He hears Kun yell out his name above the music and he looks towards his coach, opening his mouth to yell back when the ice below his foot starts to give way.

* * *

**September 10**

“I really am getting too damn old for this,” Jaemin complains, hoisting his gear bag further up his shoulder as his lips turn downwards in a grimace. Jisung just rolls his eyes as Donghyuck shoves his shoulder, letting out a loud laugh. 

“Jaemin we’re literally 24,” Hyuck says, adjusting his own backpack straps. “You’re, like, a teenager at best in this industry.” 

“Well that’s easy for you to say! You retired years ago dude. Now all you do is yell at snobby teens about their twizzles. How am I supposed to throw quads when I can’t even feel my quads, Hyuck?” The two keep bickering as Jeno, Jaemin, Donghyuck, and Jisung all make their way from the parking lot towards the training complex. 

“It’s not my fault I found a passion in coaching and choreographing. Besides, if anyone has the right to complain here it’s Jeno. Have you seen hockey? I’m surprised he still has all his teeth.” Jaemin falls silent at that because, well, he can’t exactly deny that one. 

“There was a close call with the Canadian national team once,” Jeno reminisces fondly, grabbing his boyfriend’s duffel bag off his shoulder and throwing it over his free one. 

“Alright you got me on that one, but, still. My body feels at least 20 years older than it actually is." Jaemin continues with his complaining, not even noticing the missing weight of his gear.

“Man if this is what I have to look forward to I might as well retire now, enjoy my golden years.” Jisung jokes, eyeing his senior carefully. Jaemin makes the same squawking noise he always does when Jisung teases him, grabbing Jisung and throwing him in a headlock and ruffling his hair. 

“No can do, buddy. You’re this country’s only hope for glory from now on, got that?” He lets go of the younger skater at that, looking him straight in the eye. “You’ve gotta bring home the gold. Anything less and I’ll disown you.” He knows Jaemin is joking but he can’t help but feel guilty that he was even eligible for the Grand Prix. He’d been training since January, and had been chosen as a national representative alongside Jaemin and Hwang Hyunjin, but he still felt like he hadn’t earned it (and he knew he wouldn’t be the only one thinking that). Jaemin must sense his apprehension because the older skater just bumps his shoulder into Jisung teasingly, trying to lighten his mood.

"Speaking of, how's the leg feeling?" Hyuck asks, his tone a soft and light feeling, treading lightly around such a sensitive topic. The four of them come to a stop before the main doors of the training complex, and Jisung feels more than sees all three of them looking at him.

"It's felt pretty good lately. Still not 100% but we'll get there." Jisung doesn't quite know if he believes himself when he says that, but it seems to put his friends at ease as they all look away, their features falling into relief instead of caution. Jisung feels like he should say more, but he doesn’t know what else there is to say, so instead he reaches for the door and opens it.

Taeil and Taeyong are standing in the lobby of the complex a few feet from the entrance. They're hunched towards each other, whispering in harsh voices, and the atmosphere feels unusually charged with tension.

“Hey Taeil, Taeyong. What's up?” Hyuck asks, looking between the two men. They back away from one another and Jisung notices his coach, Taeyong, looks more concerned than usual. The crease between his eyebrows is deeper and the frown on his face is more exaggerated.

"Oh, hey guys! You all have perfect timing. I found myself in a bit of a predicament a few days ago. A good friend of mine called, he trains a few skaters over in China at his own complex. His complex is located in Shanghai.” Taeil’s words come out in a rush, laced with nerves and apprehension.

"Shanghai? Wasn't there an earthquake there a few days ago?" Jeno asks.

"Yeah, it turns out his rink was hit pretty bad and part of the building fell into a sinkhole from the impact. The damage is gonna take a few weeks, if not months to repair, so… he needs a place to train his athletes for a while. I figured the Olympics aren't till next season, so I offered him to bring his athletes here." Taeil nervously glances over at Taeyong, whose face hasn’t changed since they walked through the door. He starts to wring his hands as he continues speaking to the skaters. “ I wouldn't have offered if he wasn't such a good friend of mine, or if I thought it would be detrimental to any of your seasons. I’m hoping you’ll all be okay with it.” 

"I don't see the problem.” Jaemin is the first to respond, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s only 3 athletes, it’s not like he’s bringing his whole complex with him.”

Donghyuck chimes in next. “Yeah, and we have 3 rinks. The hockey team spends most of their time goofing off, anyway, so it’s not like we don’t have the space to accommodate.”

“As a member of the hockey team, I resent that,” Jeno says, but the way he laughs as he says it means he knows it’s true. 

Taeil looks to Jisung, waiting to hear his opinion. And Jisung thinks his friends are right, what difference is 3 Chinese athletes going to make in the long run? It’s not really hurting anybody. Still, he can’t keep his eyes off his coach who looks displeased with the conversation. “I’m fine with it as long as Taeyong is,” he says finally, trying to make eye contact with his coach. 

“That’s a relief! They’re already on their way, kind of. I was just really hoping you guys would all say yes. I’ll go call my friend right away and give him an update. I really owe you guys for this one!” And with that, Taeil is gone and Jeno, Jaemin, and Hyuck make their way towards Rink 2. Jisung stays behind, walking up to his coach whose features still haven’t smoothed out since he’s walked in the building. 

“What’s wrong coach? You seem a little… upset.”

“I just…” Taeyong trails off, shaking his head slightly and closing his eyes, as if to gather his thoughts. “I just don’t know if they’re gonna mesh well here, you know? I’ve heard some things and I just don’t want anything to go wrong this season, especially for you.” His coach offers him a tiny smile at that, the corners of his lips tilting up. “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about though. Nothing’s gonna stop you, right? Let’s get some practice in, Skate Canada is like, a month away and you need to tighten up your kingdom hearts medley free skate.”

The two of them walk into the rink and Taeyong leaves him to do some warm-up stretches and gets his skates on while he makes sure the music is set. He sees Jaemin and Jeno curled up on the center bleachers, Hyuck standing in front of them, his arms crossed over his chest. Jisung wanders over to them as he stretches, listening in on the conversation. 

"I'm just saying I should really retire now while I'm still on top, you know? I don't want to pull a Mark Lee." Jisung laughs under his breath because he _ knows _Jaemin said that on purpose. Donghyuck is the self-proclaimed #1 fan of Canada's Dream Boy Mark Lee. To prove his point, Hyuck starts fuming, throwing his arms around as he seethes, his voice taking on a higher pitch as he starts to complain.

"Come on Jaemin, Mark Lee is still very much capable. He won gold at the Olympics when he was 17! Even Yuzuru Hanyu was 19 when he won gold at Sochi so I don't want to hear it." 

"Yeah but then he turned around and choked real bad at Italy in 2026. He didn't even medal, dude."

"Everyone has off days, his just happened to be at the Olympics." Jisung shakes his head as he laces up his skates. Really though, he can't help but smile at the two of them. Jeno is just sitting there, the same fond smile on his lips too.

“You know for 24 year olds, you sure don’t act like it.” Jisung says as he walks past them. He hears Jaemin’s squeak and Donghyuck yells out a useless ‘hey!’ but Jisung is already on the ice. 

He skates around the rink, throwing a few double axels and triple jumps to really warm up. He throws a quad salchow, just for good measure, before skating to his starting position. He glances at his coach once he's in position. Taeyong gives him a thumbs up and he mock-salutes back (their signal) as he feels his heart speeding up, adrenaline pumping through his veins and his blood pounding in his ears. Then the music starts and he blocks out everything except for this—the ice below him and the fire inside him.

The world melts away and suddenly all Jisung wants to do, all he knows how to do, is skate.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the place? It's sort of…"

"Huge? I know. Taeil said there's 3 rings inside. I really owe him for this one" Kun says as he leads the small pack of athletes into the sports complex. Chenle looks up at the complex before him, taking in the sheer size of it. Their ice rink had been the poor victim of a sink hole in the midst of a small-scale earthquake. Chenle can't thank the gods enough that he hadn't thrown his triple axel that day. He doesn't know what would have happened if he had landed on the cracked ice like that. He definitely would've busted an ankle or shinbone, and that's the last thing he needs at this point in the season (or his career, in all honesty). "Taeil said they always train around this time so someone should be inside. Let's check it out." 

The minute they step foot into the complex, they hear music coming from the center rink labeled Rink 2. They follow the noise and the rink is relatively empty, save for a handful of men on the sides. Their eyes are glued to the ice, blind to the new arrivals. Chenle follows their gaze and immediately spots him. 

There's a boy on the ice. The boy is about his age, if he had to guess. A little taller, too. And Chenle has seen hundreds of skaters before, he's seen the same old jumps and the same old techniques and he's heard the same damn Carmen songs 100 times now. But he's never seen _ this. _ He's never seen _ him. _

The boy moves with passion in every move and gesture. Each burst of his arms and legs is fueled with flames, his eyes are fiery as they focus, and his expression painfully raw as he glides over the ice. He is fire on ice and Chenle can't look away. The whole rink seems to be transfixed as the boy throws his arms out, spinning on the ice with his chin tilted towards the ceiling, eyes shut. He looks like something straight out of a renaissance painting like this, and Chenle can't look away as his legs burst with power, propelling him forward, forward, forward. 

Then, he lifts off, and Chenle can't believe his eyes as the boy does a quad flip-half loop-triple salchow combo. The combo is seamless with just enough power to be unmistakable but not enough power to take away from the sheer beauty of it. The landing of the triple salchow is nothing short of technical perfection, soft yet sharp, and somewhere in the back of his mind Chenle finds himself asking if this is what people feel like when they watch him skate. 

"That was one of the tightest combos I have ever seen in my life," Xiaojun leans towards Chenle as he whispers it, amazement dripping in his voice, and Chenle can't find words just yet. He watches as the music picks up, the boy lowering his hand as he hydroblades down the rink, and Chenle is mesmerized by it all. The boy is technical, sure, but there's more to it than that. He skates with raw power and raw emotion, and there's almost a vulnerable atmosphere to the whole thing. Despite that, there's an undeniable undercurrent of chaos with the passion, fire and fury. It's reckless, in a way, and Chenle can't look away. 

The boy finishes his routine with a sit spin, spinning and spinning until he's standing, arms thrown above him, fingers reaching out as the music screeches to a halt. Immediately the boys on the sidelines start clapping and cheering, and Chenle recognizes Na Jaemin as the one that's jumping up and down. "Now that’s what I call a comeback, baby!" 

"That was pretty impressive," Kun says, nodding his head in approval. Chenle isn't jealous because you'd have to be a fool to disagree. Chenle watches as the boy skates over to the gate, his coach giving him a high five as he steps off the ice, putting blade protectors on. He's had a smile on his face since he hit the last position, and Chenle doesn’t blame him. 

"Kun! I'm glad you guys made it safe!" Chenle finally rips his stare away from the boy and focuses on the man approaching them. He looks to be the same age as Kun and a little on the shorter side, but he's got a kind smile and even kinder eyes. "I'm Taeil and it's so nice to have you all here. Come, meet some of the other skaters." Taeil gestures for them to follow him. One by one, Kun, Xiaojun, and Chenle follow him towards the small crowd by the benches and bleachers.

"Hey guys, these are the Chinese athletes I was telling you about. They'll be training with us for a while." Chenle takes the time to look at the boy now that he's close up. He notices things he didn't before, like that the boy has small eyes, round cheeks, and nice teeth. And for some reason he's looking back at Chenle with his eyebrows raised high in surprise, his lips forming a small "o".

"You're Zhong Chenle, right?" The boy's voice comes out breathy, but it's soft and melodic despite being rough around the edges. "Your free skate at Worlds last year to Bookmarks From Japan was amazing, beautiful even." The boy's lips quirk upwards in a smile and his words take on a genuine tone. Chenle is taken aback by the sincerity of it all. He's been skating as long as he could remember and he's come across his fair share of social climbers and skating snakes. Besides his own training mates Xiaojun and Renjun, he'd never had another skater in his level ever _really_ compliment him with as much good intent. Any comment he'd received had been disguised as a backhanded compliment or jealous sneering. It might have to do with jealousy, or it might have to do with his preceding reputation as an "ice prince", but here this boy was with a genuine smile and sincere words and Chenle just wasn't used to that kind of kindness.

So, really, he can't be blamed when the only words that stumble from his lips is a small, hollow "thanks". 

He feels guilt flood his veins as the boy's smile falters a little, but he regains his composure in a matter of seconds and sticks his hand out, the other reaching up to card through his hair.

"My name's Jisung." Chenle reaches out and takes his hand, trying to smile back at him. He's not used to being so cordial without the cameras, so it probably looks forced, but he's proud of himself just for the effort. _'So this is Park Jisung' , _he thinks to himself. Maybe he really did have some competition after all.

"Well it's nice to meet you Jisung." Their hands break apart and the air almost falls into an awkward silence until Kun speaks up from beside him, breaking the tension.

"That was a great program Jisung! Taeil told me you're just getting back into skating but I would not have been able to tell from what you just put out there. You going to the any of the qualifiers for the Grand Prix?" 

"Jaemin here is going to Skate America and Jisung is going to Skate Canada." The person Chenle reognizes as Lee Taeyong speaks up from the bleachers. He'd been absent from the conversation so far, but he throws a hand around each of his athletes as he talks. "They're both going to Rostelecom, too."

"You two not skaters?" Xiaojun asks, pointing at the two boys sitting on the bleachers still. One is broad with black hair and an eye smile that has an uncanny resemblance to a Samoyed, the other has tan honey skin and light brown hair, his eyes an almond shape.

"Definitely not." The black-haired one speaks up. "I'm Jeno, I'm a hockey player."

"And I work the behind-the-scenes for skating. Coach and choreographer for ice dance. Name's Donghyuck." The shorter one throws them all a smile as. 

Xiaojun nods, processing the information. "I'm Xiaojun. I'm just here for a good time, I'm not half as good as Chenle so I just mooch off his sponsorships." They all get a laugh at that before Kun gets them back on track.

"Well, it looks like Chenle and I will be seeing you at Skate Canada, then. I hope we can all get along for the next few weeks. We might be competitors on the ice but we'll be supporting you and rooting for everyone to do their best!" Kun smiles his infamous smile, the sort-of dazzling one that won over panels of judges back in the day, and Jisung watches as the other coach, Taeyong, smiles back. 

"Same goes for us."

"We'd better be getting settled back at our hotel but we just wanted to stop by and thank you, Taeil, once again for lending your facilities to us. We won't keep you all any longer, good luck on the rest of your practice!"

They all say their goodbyes before Kun, Xiaojun, and Chenle walk back out of the rink.

"That kid was insane, right? It's not just me?" Xiaojun asks once they're out of the complex and back in the September breeze. 

"That combo jump is definitely impressive. The flip doesn't give you a lot of power for the salchow, and the half loop is really just to ease the landing. I gotta admit that the kid's got skill. But Chenle's got skill, hard work, and natural born talent. You got nothing to worry about kid." He feels his coach ruffle his hair, and he feels a sense of appreciation for Kun at that moment. Kun can read him like a book at this point. They used to train under the same coach—Lee Sooman—but the second Kun retired out of the sport he yanked Chenle out of SM Sports and took him under his own wing. Chenle will always be grateful for Kun. 

"What about me? Should I be worried?" Xiaojun asks. Kun just laughs in response and Xiaojun pouts, crossing his arms over his chest as he begins to complain about 'favoritism' and 'bias'. 

And yet, Chenle's mind is still on the sideline of Rink 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry that was so short, the next chapter will be a lot longer! as usual, let me know how I can improve :)
> 
> [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/starryskys) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/starrystays)
> 
> (p.s. i moved to a diff curiouscat!)


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